Spoilers for Fire Emblem Engage aheadFire Emblem Engage wears its nostalgia on its sleeve via the idea of "engaging" with heroes from past Fire Emblem adventures. Everything leads up to a final encounter with the Fell Dragon Sombron, who uses the power of the Emblem Rings to enter the space between dimensions. He aims to destroy other worlds in pursuit of "Zero Emblem," the spirit of an unnamed hero who supposedly taught the evil figure everything he knows about breaking bonds to survive. In order to achieve this goal, he calls upon 12 Dark Emblems to stall Alear.
In order to defeat Sombron's draconic form in the second half of Fire Emblem Engage Chapter 26, players can defeat the Dark Emblems to eliminate a shield around the Fell Dragon. These Dark Emblems go further than just being an obstacle; each are based on a final boss from Fire Emblem games corresponding with the player's ring spirits. Whoever wields an Emblem Ring matching the Dark Emblem will do extra damage, and bits of dialogue before every fight makes good on the kind of promise inherent to Fire Emblem Engage's core conceit.
Shadow Dragon - Medeus
Hailing from the original Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Medeus is a royal Earth Dragon who founded the Dolhr Empire as a place for Manaketes to escape persecution by humans. He is killed by humanity's Falchion, the holy blade created using a fang of the Divine Dragon Naga. However, Medeus becomes the crux of two wars fought by the Hero-King Marth in Shadow Dragon and Mystery of the Emblem after being revived by the sorcerer Gharnef.
War Father - Duma
After leaving Archanea, sibling dragons Mila and Duma start two nations on the continent of Valentia: Zofia, Mila's land of peace and prosperity; and Rigel, Duma's land of strength. Duma succumbs to madness and rot, leading the Rigelian Empire to kill Mila with a second Falchion. In Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Alm leads a military resistance against Rigel while Celica's band encounters the Duma Faithful on their quest to discover Mila's whereabouts.
Dark God - Loptous
Like Duma, Loptous is another Archanean dragon who fled to a new land, Jugdral, and eventually fell to madness. Twelve Crusaders once fought Loptous to stop his reign, and Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War follows descendants of those Crusaders as Loptr Church leader Manfroy uses Arvis and Julius - inheritors of Loptous' bloodline - to try and rekindle the Loptrian Empire. Sigurd and his allies are killed in this war, leaving their children to finish the fight.
Dark Bishop - Veld
Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 tells a side story in the world of Jugdral, with Sigurd's nephew Leif leading a resistance against the Loptr Church in the Munster region. Veld is a particularly cruel bishop who devotes his entire life to Loptous, and Manfroy gives him command over powerful undead soldiers - Deadlords - to quash Leif's forces and continue research into dark Petrify magic.
Demon Dragon - Idunn
Jumping onto the Game Boy Advance, Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade divorces itself from prior lore to focus on a new continent called Elibe. A war some hundreds of years ago leaves dragons near-extinct, though Idunn is merely sealed away as she insisted on staying neutral in the conflict. When she is reawoken without a soul, Bern's king Zephiel uses the "Demon Dragon" to cause havoc, but Roy can use the Binding Blade to help her recover.
Dark Druid - Nergal
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade is a prequel that chronicles the adventures of Eliwood, Hector, and Lyndis - parents to Roy's generations. The central terror behind their hardships is Nergal, who goes mad in the pursuit of power from draining quintessence (life force) and tries bringing sealed dragons into Elibe to gain their ultimate energy. Fans will soon be able to experience this story when Fire Emblem releases onto Nintendo Switch Online's GBA library.
Demon King - Fomortiis
In a completely new setting, Magvel, five heroes seal the Demon King Fomortiis using the Sacred Stones, namesake of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones on GBA. The Fire Emblem, Grado's stone that holds Fomortiis in stasis, drives Eirika and Ephraim's friend Lyon to madness as he attempts to revive his father Vigarde. The Demon King takes over Lyon as the Sacred Stones are broken, but the Azure Twins are able to destroy Fomortiis once and for all.
Mad King - Ashnard
The Fire Emblem in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance is Lehran's Medallion, said to hold the spirit of a chaotic god. Daein's tyrannical king Ashnard begins a war in order to obtain this power, but is ultimately defeated by Ike and his band of allies - including Ashnard's half-dragon son Soren, who he previously cast aside.
Judgment - Ashera
Tellius' god of chaos turns out to be Micaiah's companion Yune. Ashera, the god of order, refuses to reunite with her other half and bring back the creator deity Ashunera. However, sealing away her emotions leads the cold, calculating Ashera to try and destroy all life so she can create a more logical world in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.
Despair - Grima
In Ylisse, actually Archanea some centuries in the future, the cult leader Validar succeeds in bringing about the destruction of all things through his child Robin - a vessel for the Fell Dragon Grima. Fire Emblem Awakening is covertly about Lucina and other children of Chrom's army, the Shepherds, going back in time using the Divine Dragon Naga's power in order to change their fate and build a better future. Grima also appears as a secret boss in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.
Mad Dragon - Anankos
The world of Fire Emblem Fates is defined by an endless conflict between Nohr and Hoshido, but the "Revelations" path that Corrin can choose reveals this has always been driven by Anankos. Yet another dragon fallen to madness after his worshipers turned against him, Anankos rules over the invisible kingdom of Valla. Corrin and Azura, both descendants of Valla, have to unite the royal families of Nohr and Hoshido in order to create the Omega Yato that finally puts an end to Anankos' madness.
Liberation King - Nemesis
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is also split into multiple paths, but the Liberation King serves as a source of all conflicts despite only being fought in the Golden Deer route. Influenced by the dark mages of Agartha, Nemesis' band of marauders fashion weapons from the bones of the Goddess Sothis and her children before being put down by Saint Seiros - later called Rhea of Garreg Mach Monastery. The mercenary Byleth inherits Nemesis' Crest of Flames at birth through experimentation by Rhea, serving as a vessel for the revival of Sothis.
Fire Emblem Engage is available now on Nintendo Switch.